THURSDAY marked the first anniversary of the passing of Bob Geering, a well-respected businessman and fisherman.

Bob moved to Lake Cathie 1998 with the view of semi-retirement.

“He thought he would just get a part-time truck driving job to keep him busy,” explained his wife Val.

It wasn’t long before Bob purchased his first concrete pump, having identified a growing need in the local area.

Before migrating from Sydney, Bob had worked many years for Mobile Concrete Hoisting and Pumping owned by Brian Callaghan.

Bob was an excellent tradesman and soon invented a way of pumping concrete under water.

To that end, he was responsible for pumping most of the concrete for the foundations of the Opera House and Darling Harbour.

Later, he was responsible for pumping the concrete on the Mooney Mooney Bridge and many more major constructions.

Prior to retirement, Bob’s business grew to four concrete pumps, and he was responsible for most of the pumping work on the 3.2 kilometres of Kempsey’s bridges, a massive undertaking.

Bob was an “old school” gentleman whose word was his bond and his handshake his contract.

My connection with Bob was that of a fishing buddy.

We had numerous trips over the Camden Haven Bar and ventured some twelve kilometres out to the reefs.

“We are blessed with these clean waters in the Mid North Coast and abundance of fish,” Bob often remarked.

It was great seeing the enormous schools of fish and other marine life.

Our fishing spots took us close to the migration path of the humpback whales, with numerous sightings and the odd close encounter.

This may sound like a fishing tale, but we always return with bucket loads of snapper, pearl perch and flathead.

Bob is survived by his wife Val, daughter Donna and sons Rick and Craig along with eight grandchildren.

Bob’s other passion in life was speed car racing.

His son Craig is a mechanic, and it wasn’t long before grandsons Mathew and Luke took to go-kart racing and later speedway.

Bob and Craig were veterans of two trips to the USA to watch this sport at its highest level.

Bob and Val were veterans of numerous trips intrastate and interstate to support Mathew and Luke in their endeavours.

Bob’s ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean, fulfilling one of his last requests.

Bob is much missed by all who knew him.

By Bill HARROW